Steve and Robyn - steveandrobyn

Initially, my race report consisted of one word, “yuck”. But now 17 hours after completing the StumpJump 50K trail run, I do have a few things to say about it. The biggest reason I’m writing this is to record the miserable details so that in a few months, when my body has forgotten the pain, I won’t get a crazy hair & say “hey, I think Ill do the…again”. Then my husband can say, “uhmmm, honey go back & read your race report, do you really think you want to do that again?”

   To start I would say that no one should attempt this race without proper training. I however did just that and now am suffering because of it. I am not a trail runner, but I have run a few trails, needless to say, I was not in my element, nor was I prepared for what was about to occur. In training for Atomic Man last weekend, my longest training run has been 13 miles. The stumpjump was 31.  I hoped I could muddle through because of my terrifically high pain threshold and my abnormal ability to suffer. HA!!! I was hoping to average between a 10-12 minute mile based on prior running history. HA again!!

   The race started beautifully in the  morning right after a crisp sunrise. Dreama encouraged me to run with her because she knew the trails intimately. According to my Garmin, we were averaging a 9 minute mile. My internal voice said this was too fast for my ability, so I backed off at mile 5 & watched Dreama & Trey fade into the forest ahead of me. Now running solo, armed with my fuel belt & hammer gel, I donned the ear buds & found my rhythm. I was feeling pretty good at this point & was on course for a sub 6 hr finish. I knew that was too good to be true. By the 10 mile marker I was elated to see my race drop bag. In it I had an extra pair of shoes & socks which I needed desperately. Moleskin to the blisters, Advil, Redbull, Cliffbar, new socks & shoes, after about a 10 minute picnic, I was up running on the trail again. By this time, the damage had been done. My knees were shot from the shoes I had started the run in & my feet were terribly blistered. It was painful.

  The next 5 miles was rolling trail. None of the aid stations had endurolytes, which was shocking. It is virtually impossible to carry enough electrolytes for such a long race. I carried some but could have used a lot more. I would pass people & then as I squatted behind a tree for a nature call, I would watch those same people pass me by. It was an act that repeated itself many many times. Somewhere along the way, after the half way point there was this terrible rock garden. It was most likely a blessing because it forced me to slow down & allowed for some recovery, but it was brutal! At least a mile of rocks that you had to traverse very gingerly to avoid falling. I felt like a little troll would pop out at any minute & cast some evil spell on me.  I was almost hoping that I would fall, because then I would have an excuse to bail out.The lady behind me said that if I had not been in front of her she surely would have gotten lost. After that, I watched a man in front of me run right into a tree! He was stunned & it knocked the wind out of him. Tragic.

  After hitting the drop bag again for another hit of nutrition & beverage, I was determined to finish the run although I would have preferred to have been carried out on a stretcher. Only 10 more miles to go, and I was sure that I was the last one left on the course. That was OK, I figured a little humility was a good thing. I had a long conversation with God on the way back, prayer is my only hope. The climb out of suck creek was demoralizing. All I wanted was to finish the damn thing & I was forced to slow down into a huffing & puffing crawl up the side of a mountain. Running on pure caffeine & determination, once to mushroom rock I found the strength to pick up the pace & run it home. I’ve never been so happy to finish a race. Ive never had a race hurt so bad! It was 7.5 hours, 31 miles of pure agony.

   Last night I went to bed with a bottle of Pepto Bismal in my hand & Ibuprofen in the other. My legs don’t feel strong enough to hold me today and my feet are covered in blisters. The positive…I did have lots of time to contemplate life while I was out there. So, some valuable lessons were learned, all was not lost. I hope to never, ever have to ingest another Hammer Gel in my entire life. It’s time to shut it down for the season. Lots of recovery to do. I thank God for giving me the strength to finish & protecting me under the circumstances.